Careers, Life, and Yale Thursday Show: Life on Campus with Graduate and Professional Students

Dominiq Oti ’22 MArch is a 3rd year Masters student at the School of Architecture. Originally from London, Dominiq graduated with distinction in the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree program at Leeds Beckett University, Prior to Yale, Dominiq gained experience working at Fosters and Partners in London and Bjarke Ingels Group in Copenhagen.

Kevin Zhu is a third year PhD student in chemistry at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He is originally from Zhuhai, China, and came to the U.S. to attend college at Washington University in St. Louis. After graduating in 2019, he moved to New Haven to start grad school right before the pandemic hit, and he was lucky to experience some pre-pandemic Yale life. Besides his research work, he enjoy’s cooking a lot, which has proven to be a useful hobby during the pandemic.

Sidney Cech ’23 MA is a joint-degree candidate at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and the Yale School of Public Health. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016 where she double majored in French and foreign affairs, earning high honors for her French thesis on the impact of Muslim education in France as a tool against radicalization. Upon graduation, Sidney joined the Peace Corps as a secondary education English teacher in Ukraine, where she worked alongside Ukrainian teachers to increase their professional capacity and enhance the English communication abilities of her students. Outside of the classroom, she spearheaded the effort to reestablish the Gender and Development Committee and oversaw organization of the first annual Women for Women Conference. She also served as director for Camp Model UN and was especially involved in PEPFAR programming. After two years in Ukraine, Sidney continued with the Peace Corps, transitioning to service in Tanzania as a community health volunteer. At her site, she worked at the health clinic, implementing programs to improve maternal and child health, and created a support group for people living with HIV. She also collaborated with the local water committee to develop plans for improving the village’s water system. While at Yale, Sidney plans to focus on global health and international development. She is particularly interested in the use of data to increase the impact of programs and policies in sub-Saharan Africa.